Sydney ex-jockey jailed in the US

A former Sydney jockey has been jailed in the United States for concealing the proceeds of a loan fraud scheme that lost its victims more than $US5 million ($A4.85 million).

Christopher James Woods, 53, was sentenced to four years in a US federal prison, ordered to pay $US3,510,000 in restitution and a $US10,000 fine, the FBI said in a statement.

He was sentenced earlier this week by US District Judge Virginia Phillips.

Woods pleaded guilty in November 2011 to conspiracy to commit money laundering and two counts of money laundering.

He admitted conspiring with others to transfer stolen money in ways that would prevent victims of a fraud from finding it, including funneling the money through multiple bank accounts in Hong Kong before it was returned to Woods's personal bank account in Los Angeles.

The underlying loan fraud scheme was perpetrated by brothers Henrik and Hamlet Sardariani, who worked with an escrow officer, the FBI said.

The brothers defrauded private money lenders by falsely assuring them that the loans they were making were safe, when in fact the brothers had no intention of paying them back.